Nightwear for children or incontinent persons

ABSTRACT

The garment ( 1 ) intended for children who are enuretic or are undergoing toilet training, or for incontinent persons, is impermeable but has a permeable internal face ( 3 ) coming into contact with the skin. It incorporates sealing devices ( 4 ) for preventing the flow of urine outside the garment. The garment can also incorporate pieces of absorbent material ( 5 ) disposed on the internal face ( 3 ) of the garment ( 1 ) close to the sealing devices ( 4 ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a night garment intended for children whoare enuretic or undergoing toilet training, or for incontinent persons.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

At the present time there exists no night garment specially adapted forchildren who are enuretic or undergoing toilet training.

A child is considered to be enuretic if he continues to wet his bedbeyond 3 years of age. This nocturnal enuresis can sometimes last up tothe age of 14 years or even beyond.

At the present time, in order to avoid wetting the bedding, use is madeof disposable diapers for babies. However, wearing such diapers intendedfor a baby up to a maximum age of 3 to 4 years is totally unsuited toenuretic children or incontinent persons who can relearn hygiene.

In the opinion of the medical profession, in a therapy adapted toenuretic children, it is essential to eliminate the wearing of diapers.

In addition, psychologically, it is inconceivable continuing to putdiapers on children of 10 years old or even more. The use of diapersbeyond 3 or 4 years keeps the child in a regressive state, often soughtby the child itself. This is the case, for example, with atoilet-trained child who, when a small brother or sister is born, beginsto wet its bed again (secondary enuresis). Putting diapers on it againat this critical time will not help it to overcome its natural jealousyand accept this new birth. It is therefore found that, if wearingdiapers is possible up to the age of 3 or 4 years, it is no longerpossible beyond that.

Moreover, for younger children undergoing toilet training, wearingdiapers which keep the child dry is not recommended, since keeping thechild dry does not assist in toilet training.

In addition, certain persons whose incontinence cannot be re-educatedaccept the wearing of diapers with difficulty, this being felt to beinfantile, or even degrading.

Specific night clothing has been proposed for incontinent adults and forchildren. U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,699 concerns a garment for an incontinentperson or for a bedridden patient, consisting of an outer garment in theform of short trousers, inside which there is removably inserted animpermeable lining in the form of underpants covered with an absorbentmaterial on the user side, with a configuration similar to that of theshort trousers.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,621,336 concerns a night garment of the sleepsuit type,in two parts. An external part, made from a heat-retaining material,such as a cover, and a removable internal part consisting of a plasticlining preventing soiling of the bedding. These garments are overpajamasintended for very young children. U.S. Pat. No. 3,180,336 concernspajamas for children consisting of trousers inside which a piece in theform of pants produced from plastics material is fixed to the waist butnot to the crotch of the trousers, so as to enable the child wearingthem to move its legs freely. This garment is provided with elastic atthe waist and at the ankles in order to ensure comfort and warmth forthe child. This garment can also cover the diapers worn by a very youngchild. Finally, CA U.S. Pat. No. 1,000,001 concerns a multilayer garmentfor incontinent persons or mainly for hospitalized patients, which opensand closes by means of attachment cords.

All these documents concern garments which are associated with thepresence of diapers or fulfilling an overpajama function, but thesegarments cannot be applied to children who are enuretic or undergoingtoilet training with whom it is wished to eliminate the diapers whilepreserving the bedding from any soiling.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Unexpectedly and surprisingly, the Applicant has produced a nightgarment for toilet training, pleasant to wear and discreet, which,whilst enabling the person wearing it to feel when they are wettingthemselves, leaves the bedding dry.

Thus the object of the present invention is a night garment intended forchildren who are enuretic or undergoing toilet training, or forincontinent persons, reusable or for single use, characterised by thefact that it is impermeable but has a permeable internal face cominginto contact with the skin and in that it incorporates sealing devicesfor preventing the flow of urine outside the garment.

Naturally, the expression “night garment ” is not limitative to usesduring the night but during all prolonged periods of sleep such as asiesta.

This night garment can be in all normal forms for this type of garment,notably sleepsuit, pajamas with long trousers, bermudas or shorts, ajumpsuit or simple pants.

The sealing devices are disposed so as to allow sealed contact betweenthe garment and the body of the person wearing it and are disposed so asto prevent any leakage of urine through the ends of the garment.Preferably these devices are disposed at the waist and legs of thegarment.

According to another embodiment of the garment according to theinvention, the sealing devices are disposed so as to isolate the areacladding the buttocks from the remainder of the garment so that theperson has the sensation of being wet without for all that being at riskof catching cold by being completely wet.

According to a particular embodiment, these sealing devices consist ofelastic or a row of elastic elements or an elasticated band,sufficiently tight to afford a seal and sufficiently flexible not tointerfere with the blood circulation.

This elastic sealing device can be disposed for example by stitching, inor externally to a hem in the waterproof material formed at the ends ofthe garment.

To reinforce this seal, it is also possible to make provision fordisposing internally an absorbent strip close to the elastic sealingdevices which can be of the type used as an absorbent material innappies. This strip preferably has a width of between five and tencentimetres. In addition, it can be obtained by cutting from acontinuous strip, which can then have visual markings, such as markingsin the form of colours, signs, geometric figures or others, orgraduations in centimetres, numerical or other, these visual markingsconstituting cutting marks.

The garment according to the invention can be made using a materialcomposed of at least two layers placed one on top of the other, animpermeable outer layer and an internal layer permeable to fluids or amaterial consisting of a single layer having a double face, for examplea textile, one of whose faces is coated with a waterproofing coating.

The impermeable external covering is produced from cloths coated withwaterproofing, or a flexible polymer film such as polyethylene, PVC,polyurethane, rubber or mixtures thereof.

The permeable internal face is produced from a woven material such asflannel, terry cloth, or knitted such as jersey, preferably in the caseof the reusable garment, or from non-woven material, based on cottonfibres or synthetic materials, or mixtures thereof preferably in thecase of a garment for single use.

Naturally, the materials will be chosen according to whether the garmentis for single use or is reusable.

In the case of a garment for single use or disposable, the externalwaterproof material is in the form of a fine film impermeable to fluidsmade from synthetic material, of the type used for the impermeableexternal covering of nappies, for example made from polyethylene, or towhich an internal lining made from a non-woven material permeable tofluids is attached, for example of the type used for making disposablefemale panties. The flexible material can also be obtained from anon-woven material coated, by bonding or any other means, with anexternal waterproofing layer.

In the case of a reusable garment, the waterproof material is producedin a rubber film to which the woven lining is attached, or is obtainedfrom a fabric coated with a waterproofing covering, for example PVC orpolyurethane, of the type used for producing impermeable undersheets.

When he begins to wet himself, the enuretic or incontinent person maywake up and then interrupt his emission of urine in order to go to thetoilet, thus limiting the quantity of urine expelled. Nevertheless, ifthe person does not wake up or wakes up too late, or in the case oflarge flows, according to another embodiment, the garment has in thiscase, as seen previously, a strip or pieces of absorbent material,disposed on the internal face of the garment, close to the sealingdevices.

In the case of a garment for single use, this absorbent material can beadhesively bonded.

In the case of a reusable garment, the pieces of absorbent material aredisposed removably on the internal face of the garment, and attached byadhesive fixing or by contact. These pieces of absorbent material can beprovided on one face with a strip fixed adhesively or by contact.

According to another embodiment, still in the case of a reusablegarment, the absorbent material is received removably in permeableinternal envelopment means, for example in the form of a permeable flapor extension permanently connected on one side, for example bystitching, to the permeable lining alone or also to the waterproofmaterial. This flap or extension being intended to be folded back andclosed onto its opposite edge by any removable fixing means. Such aremovable fixing means is chosen from the group comprising notablyself-gripping strips, zip fasteners, press studs or buttons. The freeedge of the flap being disposed close to the elastic sealing device orinternally on the opposite side to the absorbent strip.

In a variant, the flap can be designed so as to be completely removablewhilst being provided on its two sides with fixing means such as thosedefined above on the internal part of the garment.

According to another variant, the flap is designed so as to be double inthe form of two strips positioned so as to overlap over a part of theirwidth at their free edge, in order to constitute a removable closure,permanently fixed to their external edge, in order to define an envelopeopening out at the central part at the free end of the two strips.

According to another variant, the means of enveloping the absorbent bandconsist of an envelope consisting of a folded strip permanently fixed tothe permeable lining alone or also to the waterproof material on oneface and provided with any fixing means such as a self-gripping strip,buttons etc on the free edges of the fixed and opening faces, situatedeither close to the sealed closures, or on their opposite side withrespect to the absorbent strip.

In this way, if the emission of urine is greater, it will be containedin these absorbent strips, which can easily be replaced.

The required effect will remain the same: the person will be wet, butnot the bedding.

According to another characteristic, the garment consists of panelsconnected together sealingly by welding or stitching.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described below in detail with the help ofthe accompanying drawings, which present, by way of non-limitativeexample, the preferential embodiments mentioned above, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a front view of pajama trousers according to theinvention;

FIG. 2a is a section along AA′ of the trousers depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2b is a section similar to that in FIG. 2a of another embodiment ofthe trousers according to the invention;

FIGS. 2c to 2 h are sections along BB′ of the trousers depicted in FIG.1, depicting different variant embodiments of the sealed closure devicewith various possible positionings of the elasticated band and of thematerial, internally permeable or not, at the hem produced in thewaterproof material;

FIG. 3 is a front view of pajama trousers incorporating strips ofabsorbent material;

FIG. 4 is a section along BB′ in FIG. 3 showing the holding of theabsorbent strip;

FIGS. 5, 6 a, 6 b, 7, 8, 9 a and 9 b depict, in section along CC′ inFIG. 3, variant embodiments of the holding of the absorbent strip, forthe reusable trousers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to these drawings, the following references represent:

1. trousers

2. impermeable external layer

3. permeable internal layer

4. elastic sealed closure

5. absorbent strip

6 and 6′. permeable flap

7. removable fixing means

8. adhesive strip for fixing the absorbent strip

9. complete envelope for removable absorbent strip

10. sealed closure hem

11. stitching

FIG. 1 depicts pajama trousers (1) according to the invention. Thesepajama trousers are discreet and resemble ordinary pajama trousers,which can also be matched with a pajama jacket, either through thepresence of a strip of identical colour, a pattern or any otherdecorative element on its external face (2) and provided at its endswith sealing devices (4).

As illustrated in FIG. 2a, the trousers (1) are produced from a materialcomposed of two distinct layers, an impermeable external layer (2) andan internal layer permeable to fluids (3). According to anotherembodiment, illustrated in FIG. 2b, the pyjama trousers (1) are producedfrom a material with a single double-face layer, an internal textileface (3) coated with a waterproofing covering (2) by gluing or any othermeans.

FIGS. 2c to 2 h illustrate particular embodiments concerning the elasticsealed closures. The elastic or the elasticated band (4) is disposedeither in (FIG. 2c) or externally (FIG. 2d) by stitching (11) to a hem(10) in the waterproof material formed at the ends of the garment, andthe permeable material (3) is stopped before the hem (10) (FIGS. 2, 2 d)or extended inside the hem (10) (FIGS. 2e, f, g, h).

FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the garment according to theinvention which has pieces of absorbent material, in the form ofabsorbent strips (5) disposed close to a sealing device (4) consistingof a single narrow piece of elastic.

In FIG. 4 the absorbent strip (5) for disposable trousers is glued closeto the sealing device (4).

In FIG. 5 the absorbent strip (5) for the reusable trousers is disposedremovably on the internal face of the garment, this strip being providedon one face with a strip or a covering (8) which is adhesive or forfixing by contact affording holding on the internal part of the garmentclose to the ends (4).

FIGS. 6a and 6 b depict in section reusable trousers, the absorbentstrip (5) adjacent to the sealed closure (4) is inserted in a permeableflap (6) consisting of the permeable material closed at the free end byremovable fixing means such as press studs (7), this flap beingpermanently fixed (11) on the opposite side, either close to the sealingdevice (FIG. 6a), the permeable material in this case being providedwith a width greater than the impermeable material in order toconstitute an extension turned over internally in order to form theflap, or on the opposite side (FIG. 6b), the permeable material having alength substantially corresponding to that of the impermeable materialand being permanently fixed (11) to the waterproof material (2) upstreamat a distance from the sealed closure (4) slightly greater than thewidth of the absorbent band in order to form, under this flap thusdefined, the housing for a removable absorbent strip (5).

FIG. 7 depicts as a variant an attached removable flap (6) with a widthgreater than that of the absorbent strip and provided in this case, onits two lateral sides, with removable fixing means (7) cooperating withthe complementary ones provided on the garment and as defined above.

FIG. 8 depicts another variant in which the flap is provided so as to bedouble in the form of two attached strips (6) (6′ ) positioned so as tooverlap in the central area over part of their width, permanently fixed(11) on their external side, either to the permeable material alone, orto it and to the impermeable material, in order to define an envelopeopening out at the central part at the free end of the two strips like apillowcase.

In FIGS. 9a and 9 b a complete envelope (9) in the form of a stripfolded on itself is provided so as to be attached and permanently fixed(11) by one face to the inside of the garment close to sealed closures(4) and provided with removable fixing (7) such as self-gripping strips,buttons etc on the free end of its other face held in abutment oncomplementary means at the end of its fixed face so as to enclose anabsorbent sealing strip (5).

The use of the garment according to the invention, in its two forms, isable to give rise to significant savings on several levels:

electrical consumption (washing machine and possibly dryer),

water consumption (washing machine),

detergent, softener,

rapid wear on linen (pyjamas, sheets, undersheet etc) caused by frequentwashing,

accelerated wear to the washing machine and dryer,

work and time spent changing the bedding, washing it, remaking the bed,possibly occasioning additional costs for paying a home help.

The secondary benefits are no less:

use of the invention prevents additional fatigue to the mother(generally) and additional work, enabling her to be more available toher child,

the user child becomes more independent and can more easily takeresponsibility for its enuresis by itself rinsing, for example, itsreusable trousers,

finally, use of the invention in its two forms enables the child tospend nights away from its home. Previously, attending a summer camp wasdifficult, a stay with grandparents tricky, a night at friendsimpossible. Henceforth, wearing the pyjamas according to the inventionenables a child to spent nights at a hotel or in rented accommodation,at friends or with the family, alone or with its parents, or in a summercamp. And this without even the family circle or little friendsnecessarily being aware of the enuresis of the child, who can nowconfront its problem more serenely. It will suffice, in the morning, forit to throw away its disposable garment—if it has wetted it—and thentake its normal shower.

Naturally, this night garment can also be used during the day, alone orunder other garments, notably in the case with children undergoingtoilet training, this garment always being in contact with the skin.

What is claimed is:
 1. A night garment intended for children who areenuretic or are undergoing toilet training, or for incontinent persons,the garment comprising: an impermeable external face; a permeableinternal face coming into contact with the skin of a wearer of saidgarment; sealing devices made of elastic material, which are placed nearends of said garment, for preventing a flow of urine outside saidgarment; said permeable internal face being made of a material notenabling a wearer of said garment to keep dry and on the contrary givingthe sensation of being wet; and pieces of absorbent strips disposed onsaid permeable internal face close to said sealing devices.
 2. Thegarment according to claim 1, wherein said material defining thepermeable internal face is a woven material.
 3. The garment according toclaim 1, wherein said material defining the permeable internal face is aknitted material.
 4. The garment according to claim 1, wherein saidmaterial defining the permeable internal face is a non-woven materialbased on one of cotton and synthetic fibers.
 5. The garment according toclaim 1, wherein said sealing devices comprise at least one elasticelement at said ends of the garment.
 6. The garment according to claim1, comprising a material composed of at least two superimposed layersthat are said impermeable external layer and said internal layerpermeable to fluids.
 7. The garment according to claim 1, comprising amaterial composed of a single layer having two faces that are saidimpermeable external face and said internal face permeable to fluids. 8.The garment according to claim 1, wherein said impermeable external faceis a cloth coated with waterproofing.
 9. The garment according to claim1, wherein said impermeable external face is at least one ofpolyethylene, PVC, polyurethane, and rubber.
 10. The garment accordingto claim 1, wherein said pieces of absorbent strips are fixed to theinternal face of the garment by one of gluing, adhesive fixing, andcontact.
 11. The garment according to claim 1, further comprising, closeto said sealing devices and internal to said garment, means forpermeably enveloping said pieces of absorbent strips.
 12. The garmentaccording to claim 11, wherein said means for enveloping said pieces ofabsorbent strips comprises a permeable flap permanently connected on oneside to said garment and having another side connected to said garmentby a removable fixing means, a free edge of said flap being disposedclose to said sealing devices.
 13. The garment according to claim 11,wherein said means for enveloping said pieces of absorbent stripscomprises a permeable flap which is removable and provided on each oftwo edges with means for removably attaching said flap to an interior ofsaid garment.
 14. The garment according to claim 11, wherein said meansof enveloping the pieces of absorbent strips comprises a double flap, inthe form of two strips, each having a free edge, said strips overlappingat their free edge to constitute a removable closure permanently fixedto an interior of said garment.
 15. The garment according to claim 11,wherein said means of enveloping the pieces of absorbent stripscomprises an envelope formed by a folded strip having a face permanentlyfixed to an interior of said garment and an opening face, fixing meansbeing provided at free edges of said fixed face and said opening face.16. The garment according to claim 11, comprising panels connectedtogether sealingly by welding or stitching.
 17. The garment according toclaim 11, which is in the form of trousers.
 18. The garment according toclaim 11, which is in the form of bermuda shorts.
 19. The garmentaccording to claim 11, which is in the form of a pajama with longtrousers.
 20. A garment for training an incontinent person, the garmentcomprising: a waist portion having an elastic waistband for preventingpassage of a fluid; two leg portions that each have an elastic waistbandfor preventing passage of a fluid; the garment being made of a materialthat has a permeable internal face that contacts a wearer when thegarment is being worn and an impermeable external face, said internalface retaining fluid so that a wearer of the garment senses a presenceof a fluid retained in said internal face; each of said waist portionand said two leg portions having an annular pocket on said internal facenext to a respective said elastic waistband, each said annular pocketcomprising a flap having at least one edge with means for selectivelydetachable attachment of said at least one edge to the garment; a firstfluid absorbent strip in said pocket around said waist portion; a secondfluid absorbent strip in each said pocket of said leg portions.